Sunday, September 29, 2013

3 Beautiful Facets of Gyeongju

South Korea has a lot of very interesting places to offer to
both tourists and expatriates. I have been to several places of South Korea and
I was really amazed with the idea that all those famous attractions that I only
saw on TV were standing tall right in front of my eyes. The most memorable
place I have visited so far is Gyeongju city which is located in the Southeastern
part of Korea in Gyeongsangbuk-do Province.

Photo station at the Gyeongju Historic Area acknowledged by UNESCO World Heritage

Almost Missed It.

Since I discovered that I have some acquaintances-slash-adopted-relatives-slash-neighbors-slash-aunties
living in the southeast part of South Korea, I planned to visit them. The
problem is, I don’t have ample time to do it because their place is almost 8
hours away from my place. During the Chuseok holidays, I have this 2 days
opportunity to visit them at Gyeongju. It was my first time to travel that time
and I almost missed that trip because I slept late the night before. I was with
friends the previous day touring around Seoul and I was so tired the next day
that I needed to exert too much effort to drag myself off from bed. The
adventurous part of me reminded me that I don’t have any more chance to go to
Gyeongju if I will let this day pass. I finally convinced myself, and the
verdict is to pursue my plan to travel to Gyeongju and I left my humble abode
that cold early morning.

The Start of the Journey.

Based on my readings (Thanks to Google for helping me out),
one of the many ways to go to Gyeongju is to go to the Seoul Express Bus
Terminal. The Express Bus Terminal can be reached via Seoul subway line numbers
3 and 7 and go to exit number 2. You can
also take Line number 9 and take exit number 11. The fare from the Express Bus
Terminal to Gyeongju City is 30,000 won. You can also take KTX at Seoul Station
which is a little bit expensive than the bus. The day trip to Gyeongju from Seoul travel time is approximately 4 to
5 hours. I bought two bus tickets, back and forth. Good thing I can speak a
little bit of Korean language so I was able to explain to the ticket vendor the
schedule of travel I desire. Since I am expecting a long travel, I decided to
come back the next day so I can stay there overnight.

Tickets from Seoul to Gyeongju

The Long Travel.

What was supposed to be a 4 hours travel turned out to be a
7 hours travel and I was reminded that Chuseok holidays usually is congested
with people and cars. The main challenges are traffic and long lines in the
public comfort rooms during the two stops. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the trip
eventhough that some passengers have almost lost their patience and gone
haywire because of the long travel. The ajumma besides me starts getting
irritated with my constant question “Are we there yet?”. I think I asked her
for the nth time, that was me being worried if I took the right bus and the
right destination. We left at 11:10 am and we arrived at Gyeongju at 6:30 pm.
That was a whooping more than 7 hours of travel.

Beautiful Gyeongju.

But all my worries had been wiped out and all my efforts had
been paid off when I arrived at the well gated community of Gyeongju. My heart
stopped beating for like 10 seconds in awe of the beautiful paradise that
awaits me. I said, “Wow, this place is a real treasure”. You know and you can
feel the Korean rich culture through the ambiance of the place.

The entrance to Beautiful Gyeongju

My aunt was
already waiting for me at the bus terminal when I arrived and it was nice
seeing her after she left our hometown for more than a decade.

Fact about Gyeongju.

Gyeonngju city was the capital of Silla Kingdom from 57 BC to AD 935. That was more or less 992 years of ruling and it is considered the longest period of any dynasty in the History of Korea. Gyeongju was previously known by the names Seorabeol and Gyerim and adapted the name Gyeongju after AD 935.

First beauty revealed: The Architectures.

What makes Gyeongju beautiful is the historic ambiance of
architectures that you can see almost everywhere. It’s like an open air museum.
In fact, you don’t need to go to a museum to experience and see the feel of the
Silla Kingdom. The place contains all the historic places and historic houses
and historic sceneries that you feel like you have traveled in time back to the
days when this place was still the capital of the Silla Kingdom. And because it
was the capital city, all the relics of Silla Kingdom have been scattered all
around the city.

Symbol of Silla Dynasty and Gyeongju. You can see these almost everywhere in Gyeongju.

The residents of the city upheld their duty to preserve their
cultural heritage and you can see their efforts by just looking at the designs
of their houses. Most of the buildings there still follow the design of the old
Silla Kingdom. This is their way of preserving their historical pride. This
makes the place an open air museum because by just walking down the lane of
Gyeongju, you are already witnessing the cultural heritage of the city.

Buildings. Houses. Fences. All were built based on historic Silla Dynasty architectural designs.

Second beauty revealed: The Night Life.

Despite having a laid back ambiance, Gyeongju city have
awesome night life to offer to those of you night owls. Since I arrived there
at early night time, my aunt brought me to a group of Filipinos who are
planning to go to Norae Bang that night for a weekend party. Norae Bang or
Videoke Bar is one of the many things you can do at night time at Gyeongju.
Although the place is not as loud as in Suwon and in Seoul, you can sing your
heart out until midnight without having any troubles.

Norae Bang with Filipino Community at Gyeongju

Night time is simply
beautiful at Gyeongju and pretty safe that we took along with us the kids to
join us for that late night escapade. I really had fun spending my night with
the Filipino Community at Gyeongju and I swear I could spend more nights like
that without dull moments.

Night Life at Gyeongju

Gyeongju looks different at night than in the
daytime. It could be because of the colorful lights that it subdued the
supposed to be historical feel of the place.

Third beauty revealed: The tourist Attractions.

There are a lot of Gyeongju attractions that tourists can enjoy that one
or two days are not enough to explore the place. Several spots of Gyeongju are
reflecting the history of the place that it receives a UNESCO World Cultural
Heritage. From a late night escapade last evening, we left the apartment as
early as possible the next day because I have to go back to Seoul in the
afternoon. Since I don’t have enough time, we visited the Gyeongju historic area
situated in the heart of city, the nearest tourist attraction so far from
my aunt’s place. In this park, I was in awe when I saw these humungous hills
that scattered everywhere in the area. My aunt explained that these are not
simply hills but grassy burial moulds that hold the tombs of Silla Kings. Wow,
there are actually kings buried in these tombs. The Cheomsangdae Observatory
was also there, it’s amazing that the old relic you just read from books is
already right there in front of you.

The Tombs of Kings at Gyeongju Historical Area.

Aside from the tombs and the Cheomsangdae Observatory, the
nature park is a place where you can sit and relax with nature.

Cheomsangdae observatory

There are also
numerous Buddhist temples and statues that you can see everywhere in the area
and the chariot type of transportation is an additional tourist attraction.
Tourists can experience the ride for a fee though.

All around the historic area

As I’ve said, one day is not enough to really savor the
beauty of tourist attraction of Gyeongju. I should have visited the Gyeongju Anapji
Pond, or the Bomun Lake, or get lost in the Gyeongju tower, and of course the
most famous attraction of Gyeongju- the Bulguksa Temple.

I’ll be back Gyeongju.

If there is one word that could define Gyeongju, it is
BEAUTIFUL. I have stayed there for merely 24 hours and I somehow fell in love
with the place. I guess the formula for it being beautiful is the brave
preservation of the place despite the world’s modernization and the value that
the people have invested to their cultural heritage. No wonder several Korean TV
series and movies selected Gyeongju to shot some of their scenes. A thousand years have already passed after the
fall of Silla, but you can still feel the air of the dynasty at Gyeongju. On
that note, I will surely go back there, with more time and more preparation, I
will make an extraordinary trip to Gyeongju next time.

Thank you to the Filipino community at Gyeongju who despite
me being peculiar to them, they welcomed me and made me feels that I belong.
Thank you to Auntie Remy Estonina and family and to Santiago family for
adopting me for my two days stay there. Until we meet again.

This is one place that I want to visit if I want to learn the history of Korea and their culture. I love the idea of preserving the architecture since it talks about their country and their way of life before. :D

looks like you guys had so much fun here! i am so scared to be in other country which i cant read their signs or letters hehe some how i am afraid to be in their country. though hopefully i know they speak english nmn hehe and seeing oyur photos makes it more inviting for me!

It was really nice reading your blogpost about Gyeongju. Truth be told, I've always wanted to visit South Korea but none of my friends would like to go too, and i cant seem to find the courage for now to travel alone. :(

Superb share! Lovely place to visit. "The Tombs of Kings" is really an attractive place. If I visit Gyeongju it will be sure that I will see this place once. I love your blog and visit it daily because of your fantastic articles. I also love travelling and spend my holidays in villas. Last month when I visited Spain and I have spend my whole week in this super gorgeous villa http://www.clubvillamar.ru/lloret-de-mar/vista-alegre/